How to Choose a Word of the Year with Runes

Choosing a word of the year is a powerful practice for focusing your energy and intentions, but sometimes finding just the right word can be challenging. Fortunately, there are many magical resources we can look to for guidance and inspiration. In this post, I’ll share how the ancient runes can help you choose your word of the year for 2025.

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As the wheel of the year turns and a new calendar year approaches, many people take time to reflect on the past and set intentions for the future. One powerful practice gaining in popularity is choosing a word of the year—a single word that serves as a guiding principle or touchstone for the year ahead. For those who embrace a witchy lifestyle, combining this practice with rune divination (or other forms of divination) offers a meaningful, magical way to help determine your focus for the year.

In this post, we’ll explore how the runes of the Elder Futhark can offer guidance as you search for and select your ideal word of the year for 2025.

Word of the Year: What It Is & Why You Want One

A word of the year is a single word you choose to guide and inspire you throughout the year. Unlike traditional resolutions, which can feel rigid or overwhelming, a word of the year is flexible and empowering. It acts as a guiding star to help you stay aligned with your goals, values, and intentions, no matter what life throws your way.

While your intuition is the best guide to help you choose your perfect word of the year for you, there are many tools that can help you. In this post, I’ll be sharing about working with the runes of the Elder Futhark to help you choose your perfect word. Curious to learn more about different ways to choose a word of the year and why this practice is so transformative? Check out my full guide to the word of the year practice. There, I share everything you need to know to make this simple and magical tradition work for you.

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How Ancient Runes Can Help You Choose Your Word of the Year

There are several ways that the ancient runes can help you choose your word of the year.

Conduct a Rune Reading: If you’re feeling totally open to receiving the runes’ guidance and you don’t necessarily have a direction in mind for your word of the year, you can conduct a rune reading to receive guidance and direction. You can draw several runes and choose your word from among their meanings, or you can draw just one and let it guide you to your word.
Let the Runes Translate: If you have a vibe in mind for your word of the year and you know roughly what direction you want to go in but you need help settling on one perfect word, the runes can help translate the energy you’re feeling called to into words that can provide guidance for you all year through.
Let the Runes Inspire You: This is kind of a cross between the first two methods. Let’s say you don’t have a solid idea of the direction in which you want your word to lead you, but you also don’t want to hand over the reigns completely. In this case, you can take some time to read about the runes, discover which ones resonate with you, and pick a word that inspires you based on that.
Choose a Rune of the Year: Alternately, you can use a version of any of the above methods to choose a rune of the year instead of or in addition to a word of the year. For example, I’ve decided that my rune of the year for 2025 will be Berkana. I’m also choosing a word of the year, but I chose my rune of the year first, and the rune Berkana is guiding my word choice (I’m currently leaning towards “nourish” but I’m not totally sure yet).

Most of these methods are pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll share more details about conducting a word of the year rune reading below. I’ll also provide a list of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark and corresponding word of the year ideas based on their meanings.

Conducting a Rune Reading to Choose Your Word of the Year

Conducting a rune reading is not the only way the runes can help you choose your word of the year, but it may be the most obvious. This method is ideal if you don’t really have a direction in mind for your word of the year, and you’re seeking guidance and clarity to help you decide.

Step 1: Get in the Zone

Set up a sacred space for your rune reading, which can be as simple as finding a quiet corner of your home and clearing a surface. You may want to start a diffuser (I love Frankincense & Envision for rune readings), light a candle, adjust the lighting, and/or lay out a cloth for your runes—whatever helps you get in the zone. Take a few deep breaths to center yourself. If it helps you, you may want to do some journaling before your reading to focus your attention to clarify your question(s).

Diffising oils like Frankincense or Envision can set the mood and enhance your intuition.

Step 2: Pose Your Question

A good reading always starts with a good question, so word your question carefully. Here are a few suggestions for what to ask your runes:

What word will guide me toward my highest good this year?
What energy do I need to embrace in the coming year?
What requires my deep focus this coming year in order for me to live my best life?
What is the common thread that connects my highest priorities and intentions for the coming year?

If you already have a couple possibilities in mind and you need help deciding between them, you can phrase your question to account for that.

Step 3: Draw a Rune (or a Few)

Draw a single rune from your set, or more if it feels right to you (I’d recommend no more than three for a word of the year reading). Refer to my Guide to Rune Meanings for Spellwork & Divination or my book Modern Runes to explore their traditional meanings, and explore the guide below for word of the year inspiration based on each rune. Reflect on how these align with your aspirations for the year.

Step 4: Choose Your Word

Translate the rune’s meaning into a guiding word, or let the runes’ wisdom guide you to your word according to your intuition. For example, the rune Uruz (symbolizing strength and vitality) might inspire the words Strength, Health, Wild, or Resilience.

The guide below has several words listed for each rune that could be good possibilities for a word of the year. Don’t feel limited to the words listed! They are merely meant as a jumping off point to inspire you.

Your chosen word should feel good to you when you read it, write it, and say it out loud. It’s okay if your word scares you a little bit, as long as it also motivates and inspires you. When you find your perfect word, you’ll know!

The rune Dagaz might inspire a word of the year like Transformation, Rise, or Hope.

Rune Meanings for Word of the Year

Here’s a quick reference for the Elder Futhark runes and my suggestions for their corresponding word of the year suggestions. The twenty-four runes are listed in order, followed by corresponding word of the year suggestions.

These suggestions are not comprehensive by any means! The runes are so multi-faceted, there are many great words that could be tied to each and every one, and you may want to pick a word that alludes to the energy of multiple runes, or a word that is only tangentially related to a particular rune (but is still potent and meaningful for you). Your word of the year may be hiding in this list, or this list may just be a step on the path towards your perfect word. Use this list as a jumping-off point, and let it inspire you to find your perfect word of the year for 2025.

For more detailed information about the Elder Futhark rune meanings, check out this guide to rune meanings for spellwork and divination.

Fehu: Abundant, Flow, Gratitude, Grateful, Invested, Growth, Move, Gold, Golden, Enough
Uruz: Wild, Freedom, Strength, Strong, Health, Wellness, Resilience, Endurance, Power, Vitality
Thurisaz: Boundaries, Endurance, Resilience, Respect, Indomitable, Imperturbable, Shadow
Ansuz: Truth, Inspiration, Clarity, Voice, Sing, Listen, Speak, Spirit, Inspire, Breathe, Magic, Enchanted, Music, Song, God, Wonder, Miracles, Blessed, Bless
Raidho: Journey, Travel, Rhythm, Ritual, Path, Go, Shine, Move, Adjust, Adapt, Endure
Kenaz: Create, Creative, Vision, Passion, Light, Bright, Burn, Know, Learn, Illuminate, Luminous, Shine, Share
Gebo: Give, Gift, Gratitude, Grateful, Thanks, Thankful, Balance, Connection, Relate, Receive, Engage, Love
Wunjo: Joy, Love, Happiness, Bliss, Peace, Community, Friendship, Family, Wish, Wonder, Full, Joyful, Dance, Sing, Celebrate, Sisterhood, Brotherhood
Hagalaz: Transformation, Renewal, Rebirth, Acceptance, Change, Adapt, Forgive, Grace
Nauthiz: Sacrifice, Patience, Discipline, Strength, Restraint, Will, Willpower, Moderation, Prudence
Isa: Stillness, Rest, Reflection, Endurance, Calm, Peace, Discipline, Meditate, Listen, Silence, Wait, Patience, Serenity
Jera: Growth, Rhythm, Cycles, Plant, Harvest, Sow, Reap, Ritual, Consequences, Roots, Return, Earth
Eihwaz: Adapt, Transformation, Level Up, Awaken, Ascend, Aim, Transform, Rise, Support, Hold
Perthro: Mystery, Intuition, Trust, Magic, Rebirth, Game, Fun, Play, Shadow, Birth, Mother, Change, Veil, Receive, Feminine
Elhaz: Safety, Family, Hope, Protection, Boundaries, Guard, Shield, Shelter, Reflect
Sowilo: Shine, Light, Bright, Luminous, Sunshine, Sunlight, Renewal, Vitality, Radiance, Radiant, Sparkle, Glow, Beacon, Rise
Tiwaz: Honor, Justice, Integrity, Leadership, Lead, Purpose, Righteous, Righteousness, Truth, Honesty, Triumph, Courage, Brave, Bravery, Fight, Virtue, Trust, Faith, Freedom
Berkana: Healing, Health, Heal, Renewal, Renew, Nurture, Nourish, Care, Mother, Love, Guide, Feed, Provide, Lush, Comfort, Hold, Home, Mending, Mend, Birth, Rebirth, Inner Child, Child, Play, Receive, Give, Overflow, Feminine
Ehwaz: Partnership, Harmony, Unity, Trust, Together, Team, Cooperation, Family, Community, Friendship, Love, Partner, Collaborate
Mannaz: Community, Compassion, Wisdom, Humanity, Grace, Wise, Reflect, Mirror, Human, Rise
Laguz: Intuition, Flow, Mirror, Reflect, Water, Overflow, Life, Heal, Healing, Nourish, Nurture, Restore, Change, Moon
Ingwaz: Potential, Growth, Creativity, Peace, Inner Child, Seed, Seedling, Beginning, Begin, Start, New, Emerge, Blossom, Bloom, Sprout
Dagaz: Breakthrough, Awakening, Rise, Shine, Hope, Light, Transformation, Liminal, Doorway, Become, Becoming, Unique, Metamorphosis
Othala: Family, Ancestors, Home, Heritage, Legacy, Stability, Community, Boundaries, Within, Support

How to Choose a Word of the Year with Runes

Word of the Year: What It Is & Why You Want One

How Ancient Runes Can Help You Choose Your Word of the Year